Charles Davenport
Instructor of English
M.S., SUNY Brockport, 2005
B.S., Central Michigan University, 1985
I teach first year writing courses, as well as various courses in general education writing and literature. This year, I am a writing coach to four Secondary English teachers in local middle and high schools in the Saginaw Valley area. This is funded through a grant awarded to Pat Cavanaugh. I am also the newest member of the Board of Directors for the Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation. Once again, I will be the organizer and host of the monthly Spoken Word, Music and Open Mic Night in downtown Bay City.
Reading and performing poetry live brings me great pleasure, and being able to read "My Papa's Waltz" in Theodore Roethke's childhood home in Saginaw was an emotional moment. I enjoy writing creatively, and sometimes I can actually write lyrics to a song I may be working on at the time. My outlook on life is as a surfer-philosopher and folk-rock poet.
Favorite undergraduate moment: My favorite undergraduate moment was in April of 1982 while I was attending Delta College. While driving to the campus down Hotchkiss Road, I spied a turtle on the yellow lane divider, right in the middle of the road. It was Spring and a flower was growing from a small pile of mud on its back. I was late to class for the first time.
Favorite moment at SVSU: My favorite teaching moment at SVSU was today. I graded a beautiful essay that made me cry. Every day, I am reminded why I do this.
Five book that Charles would want with him if marooned on a deserted island: The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson; Oxford English Dictionary; The Complete Unabridged Writings of William Shakespeare; and Orlando, by Virginia Woolf.